A need for Soil Testing in Snake Park

Tshidi Sebogodi

In my area I went to Block 6, a school called Thulani High the is a project for food gardening project they plant all kinds of seeds. The community is also involved in the garden project.

On the 10 July 2024 I went to Thulani High school at Block 6 ward 50 still same area. I did interview Mr Mbanya who moved in snake park Thulani on the year 2002 from Soweto white city. He has passion for Farming. He started a back yard garden in his home, the space was too small he then recruited other farmers to get a big land for them to be able to plant and harvest big vegetables and fruits.

Mr Motse who is a local farmer then gave him a piece of land then to start his own garden. He then started his own garden by planting different vegetables like spinach, beetroot, carrots etc. Every year he plants and do crop rotation so that his vegetables can grow fertile. Since 2022 he noticed that his crops don’t grow healthy then suspect that it’s infertile soil.

He wants expects who can come with equipment for soil testing and water testing to know if the soil is contaminated or not. And since this started, he is also trying to put compost buying from supermarket to fertilize the soil but still the same crop as spinach grows yellowish is not healthy.

Food Gardens are good projects, and they teach kids about being independent and responsible. It is also a way to mentor children about the importance of agriculture and running a vegetable business. Our problem is that our soil in Snake Park is dirty because of the tailing soils which blows in our yards. We need to have tools for soil testing.